A youth culture left in the hands of old men'

[Frankie Crocker]

31 minutes ago, Timillustrator said:

What would you define as "young"?

 

At Wigan in the late 70’s, some of the youngsters looked 14 or 15 such was their desperation to be part of the scene. How many youngsters of this age attend events today and have a view of the current scene?

As I look around at today’s youth, playing on their phones, buds in listening to Ed Sheeran, mimicing the dances on the Fortnight game, perhaps it’s fair to say the Rare Soul scene is safely underground and only likely to appeal to the most ardent of alternative culture seekers?

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

Just now, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

At Wigan in the late 70’s, some of the youngsters looked 14 or 15 such was their desperation to be part of the scene. How many youngsters of this age attend events today and have a view of the current scene?

As I look around at today’s youth, playing on their phones, buds in listening to Ed Sheeran, mimicing the dances on the Fortnight game, perhaps it’s fair to say the Rare Soul scene is safely underground and only likely to appeal to the most ardent of alternative culture seekers?

Frankie my lass started going to WC at 15 in 76, says at first it was 'all old blokes moaning that it was full of little kids' bear in mind at 15, 30 is well old!

On Saturday I posted a rake of pics of some of the young crowd we get, they have a very positive view of the scene, some are even national names on the DJ scene, obvs not 15 but a couple are 20 years of age, we love 'em and they feel welcome and valued, it's like youngsters who like vintage clothes, old cars, vinyl, retro scenes are very cool to some, I was similar, lot of the soul records were retro when the scene got hold of them, it was retro scene mostly even in the 70s, lot of it were 60s sounds eh!

Of course 15 year olds these days don't have the same outlook and attitude as the ones who went Wigan in the 70s..

[Timillustrator]

42 minutes ago, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

I'm now fifty and still in the youngest 10% and the scene has increased massively in size!

I'm 49 and depending on the event a few times I felt like the youngest there. At other times it's been more of an all ages crowd. These days of course with trained bouncers, id, Challenge 21 etc. it's pretty unlikely anyone underage will get in to many places or even try to. 

[Guest Shufflin]

3 minutes ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

At Wigan in the late 70’s, some of the youngsters looked 14 or 15 such was their desperation to be part of the scene. How many youngsters of this age attend events today and have a view of the current scene?

As I look around at today’s youth, playing on their phones, buds in listening to Ed Sheeran, mimicing the dances on the Fortnight game, perhaps it’s fair to say the Rare Soul scene is safely underground and only likely to appeal to the most ardent of alternative culture seekers?

me and one of my kids were exchanging soul 45's last Friday - BUT they have little interest in what went on in the 70's (why would they, they are living for now?)

maybe the original scene was just ardent alternative culture seekers, faced with the alternative of beatles/stones/glam pop or prog rock?

[Girdwoodinc]

I’m just in my 40s and one of the youngest up here in Scotland - have commented a couple of times on this thread 

[Timillustrator]

1 minute ago, shufflin said:

BUT they have little interest in what went on in the 70's (why would they, they are living for now?)

Absolutely why not many are going to comment on threads like this; there are often (not particularly on this thread but on this site certainly) comments about how the scene went wrong when the media were let in to Wigan 1975 or various documentaries, films or other changes since. Whilst this may well be true, for someone of 20 today that's as relevant as a discussion about the Second World War or something.

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

OK I've removed a lot of the noise from the thread, a pointless exercise really, as most have already gone through the pain of having read all that!

I'm interested in the idea of it being an alternative scene, I was very interested myself, having lost belief in Punk, I started to twig on that it had become a commercial enterprise 'Punk became a fashion like Hippy used to be, but that ain't got a thing to do with you or me, yes that's right punk is dead it's just another cheap product for the consumer's head!' (CRASS.)...

The allniter scene of the 80s was edgy, dangerous and although I talk a lot about it being 'commercial as soon as someone took your 50 pence' it was an underground scene at that point in time, you'd had the big influx of the mid 70s, most of them had quit and it was left in the hands of the dedicated enthusiast. My mates used to ask about my weekend and I'd say 'Oh had a gig booked' when actually I had the weekend off from the band and had been to a niter, I didn't mention it, and not out of being embarrassed, most of my crowd wouldn't get the idea of going to listen and dance to old soul music, of course if you did the gear side then it was much more than just that, but it was still the beating heart of the scene, the music. I loved it because the women (all older than me) loved me, I loved gear and worked in that business, and I like music that has some emotionally driven lyrical content, drama and theatre... Oh and some great Bass!

Of course there was also the laughs, the car chases, the one-arm bandit lot, oh the women, nearly forgot them! It was ace for me then, now I take my lass for whom it was a youth culture, I enjoy the music immensely but rarely if ever dance now, I just stand outside mostly taking the p**s out of the old geezers and getting chatted up by the older women, just the same as I did when I was 19/20! 

 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

OK I've removed a lot of the noise from the thread, a pointless exercise really, as most have already gone through the pain of having read all that!

I'm interested in the idea of it being an alternative scene, I was very interested myself, having lost belief in Punk, I started to twig on that it had become a commercial enterprise 'Punk became a fashion like Hippy used to be, but that ain't got a thing to do with you or me, yes that's right punk is dead it's just another cheap product for the consumer's head!' (CRASS.)...

The allniter scene of the 80s was edgy, dangerous and although I talk a lot about it being 'commercial as soon as someone took your 50 pence' it was an underground scene at that point in time, you'd had the big influx of the mid 70s, most of them had quit and it was left in the hands of the dedicated enthusiast. My mates used to ask about my weekend and I'd say 'Oh had a gig booked' when actually I had the weekend off from the band and had been to a niter, I didn't mention it, and not out of being embarrassed, most of my crowd wouldn't get the idea of going to listen and dance to old soul music, of course if you did the gear side then it was much more than just that, but it was still the beating heart of the scene, the music. I loved it because the women (all older than me) loved me, I loved gear and worked in that business, and I like music that has some emotionally driven lyrical content, drama and theatre... Oh and some great Bass!

Of course there was also the laughs, the car chases, the one-arm bandit lot, oh the women, nearly forgot them! It was ace for me then, now I take my lass for whom it was a youth culture, I enjoy the music immensely but rarely if ever dance now, I just stand outside mostly taking the p**s out of the old geezers and getting chatted up by the older women, just the same as I did when I was 19/20! 

 

You do it every single time. Make me feel like a dinosaur. I remember when Fred Hughes was first played! Lol

[Timillustrator]

Interesting, I had a vaguely similar past. I was into the later Hardcore Punk scene, mainly based around fast US bands or those copying them in the late 80's/early 90's. This was also a reaction to punk having gone mainstream/sold out etc. No one had a mohican or leather jacket or studs, it was pretty small and underground. Also very edgy, not so much drugs but an incipient air of violence - I remember being punched in the face by a 6'2" skinhead for "not stage diving properly!". I was also a big fan of soul, R&B and blues but wouldn't ever talk about that kind of music with most of my hardcore mates as they wouldn't have understood it. Sorry probably going off topic here!

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

1 minute ago, Timillustrator said:

Interesting, I had a vaguely similar past. I was into the later Hardcore Punk scene, mainly based around fast US bands or those copying them in the late 80's/early 90's. This was also a reaction to punk having gone mainstream/sold out etc. No one had a mohican or leather jacket or studs, it was pretty small and underground. Also very edgy, not so much drugs but an incipient air of violence - I remember being punched in the face by a 6'2" skinhead for "not stage diving properly!". I was also a big fan of soul, R&B and blues but wouldn't ever talk about that kind of music with most of my hardcore mates as they wouldn't have understood it. Sorry probably going off topic here!

Only slightly OT, and illustrates the point about thread drift because it is related to the previous post, so please tell us how you came to find Soul, RnB and Blues etc, coming from that background? Also a bit about age and coming to the scene etc. Assuming you're active or have been active on the scene.

 

[Timillustrator]

Prior to all of that, in the early 80's when I was still at school I was a Mod. Me and my mate quickly went beyond the Who and Small Faces and were heavily into Motown, Stax, Geno Washington, 60's R&B, James Brown, blues, a lot of the early Kent/Ace LP's, didn't realise a lot of this stuff was Northern Soul then. Played guitar and sang in bands doing 60's material with zero success, moved on to punk, noise rock and hardcore in the later 80's, mainly doing bands, still listened to everything and went to all kinds of gigs, even jazz, blues etc. Lost interest in going out after a car crash in '92, bought a house, got married, was busy with work, had kids, got made redundant, started my own business all that stuff etc. So long term soul fan but only on the scene in the last few years. At first I found it amazing hearing these records I hadn't for 30 odd years, and realising that they were actually northern soul.

[Timillustrator]

The other point I guess I was trying to make was that the punk/alternative/hardcore "scenes" such as they were don't exist anymore. OK there are punk gigs with re-formed bands and you occasionally see people at them with mohicans or funny clothes, some modern American Hardcore/Alternative bands play here but there's no ongoing events, little in the way of shared experience or a sense of community, I'd probably not see anyone I know at most of them, there are no clubs as such. If I wanted to go to a punk/hardcore gig every weekend I'd be very hard pushed to find any within 100 miles of me and certainly not every weekend. So whilst people bemoan the death/commercialisation/cheapening of the soul scene or say it's become a parody of itself, it's still around. 

 

[Chalky]

Post removed.

post removed as it might hurt someone’s feelings

Edited June 6, 2018 by chalky
Offensive.

[Autumnstoned]

12 hours ago, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

I enjoy the music immensely but rarely if ever dance now, I just stand outside mostly taking the p**s out of the old geezers and getting chatted up by the older women, just the same as I did when I was 19/20!

Sounds like fun - many wouldn't bother.

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

3 hours ago, autumnstoned said:

Sounds like fun - many wouldn't bother.

I take my lass out to have a good time, she deserves it, I love seeing her enjoying herself, not only that but I go dry too, I always drive her so she can have a drink, people ask me how I do it, because I'm well known for liking a drink myself. To me making a sacrifice for the one I love is easy! I know a few who don't do it for their women. I have fun too, the lads and lasses I know are a great laugh! Well worth the 'bother'.

[Ljblanken]

18 hours ago, Timillustrator said:

The other point I guess I was trying to make was that the punk/alternative/hardcore "scenes" such as they were don't exist anymore.

 

I think you hit it spot on.

Back then (the 1980s for me, as I am 46), scenes (mod, punk, hardcore, etc) gradually evolved and solidified as people SLOWLY accrued/acquired/absorbed culture (clothes, music, etc)... and made their own in response. Now, if a kid gets exposed to Northern Soul (or anything - Peruvian pan flute music, for gods sake) they can download all the tunes AND order all the appropriate gear in 2 days. Easily gotten, easily lost. Then it is on to the next thing.

I think the youth scenes/subcultures of post-WWII USA/UK are a thing of the past. Now just one large, undifferentiated tidal wave of media. I don't think kids today even understand the concept of a "scene" (not being judgmental or dismissive - I truly think this).  

Just my two cents. 

 

 

[Timillustrator]

Absolutely, you had to buy records based on recommendation without having heard them, sometimes wait weeks for them to arrive, go to different cities to get clothes, you only knew where to buy stuff by asking around, clubs might put a poster up but if no one told you about it you wouldn't know. The same for any sub-culture really.

As you say a 20 year old can hear about Northern Soul on Monday, stream Spotify for the week, read a few articles online, watch a couple of Youtube vids, order a load of logo'd gear on Tuesday, check out Soul Source for the gigs on Wednesday and turn up Friday fully kitted out/informed. 

[Ljblanken]

58 minutes ago, Timillustrator said:

Absolutely, you had to buy records based on recommendation without having heard them, sometimes wait weeks for them to arrive, go to different cities to get clothes, you only knew where to buy stuff by asking around, clubs might put a poster up but if no one told you about it you wouldn't know. The same for any sub-culture really.

As you say a 20 year old can hear about Northern Soul on Monday, stream Spotify for the week, read a few articles online, watch a couple of Youtube vids, order a load of logo'd gear on Tuesday, check out Soul Source for the gigs on Wednesday and turn up Friday fully kitted out/informed. 

Yup. And they don't proceed in a linear fashion - for example...first listen to "general black music" for a couple of years (for me it was Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, reggae, etc), then "popular" soul (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin,  Motown), then "rare" soul (northern, deep, popcorn, lowrider, etc), and then something really, really specialized (like for me... mid-tempo, female vocal, mid-sixties, beat ballads). That journey took me 25 years. 

They can, rather, jump right into the deep end immediately... but have no context or basic understanding. And if they focus their spending, they can acquire an impressive box of 20-50 records and get DJ spots. That happens in the US a lot. 25 year old kid spinning a couple of big tunes at an event and you're like "did this kid start collecting when he was 3 years old??" (no, more likely 6 months ago... he's just really good at exploiting the internet!)... and then you say to them "that tune sounded like "everybody plays the fool" by Main Ingredient" and they're like... "what's that?" (that happened to me recently)

Not complaining. It is what it is. If the 25 year old is spinning great tunes, then good on 'em! I'll dance.

(and if I was 25 now I'd be doing the exact same thing!)

 

 

 

   

Edited June 5, 2018 by ljblanken

[Guest Shufflin]

1 hour ago, Timillustrator said:

a 20 year old can hear about Northern Soul on Monday, stream Spotify for the week, read a few articles online, watch a couple of Youtube vids, order a load of logo'd gear on Tuesday, check out Soul Source for the gigs on Wednesday and turn up Friday fully kitted out/informed

if they then go on to have a great time on said Friday, and behave, that's fine by me

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

All good stuff folks once again, thankyou!

There are always gonna be two factions, on the one hand you have the regulars been going for years, have their own social circles within the scene, have their pet likes/dislikes within the music, all won with years of dedication, they are happy for the scene to remain as it is, like a comfy armchair.

And the promoters/DJs/business side, door take, numbers on the floor, atmosphere, they want as many in as they can get, newbies or not, dedicated enthusiasts or just folks having a look in, 'bums on seats' as it were.

Truth is it seems you can't have one without the other, a poor attendance can't be sustained, as in everything there has to be a balance between the two.

Thing with newbies is some will love it, go on to learn the ways of the scene, the protocols, the music, from the uninitiated newcomers come the dedicated enthusiasts, that is how any scene builds. We were all wet behind the ears once!

Obviously I'm a relative newcomer, obvious by my young age, I'd like to hear some more from some of the more experienced members, how they got into the scene, what was it about it that kept you going for all these years, the music? The atmosphere? The people? More than likely a combination of all these, come on, you're dedicated lifelong enthusiasts, the door is wide open, let's hear you enthuse about this lovely scene. We hear a bit about how it's changed, everyone is interested in a bit of history, and a lot of the esteemed membership here must have mountains of it to share! Please do lads! And lasses, if any are reading! 

[Mr Fred]

One thing to bear in mind when referring to old blokes,years ago let's say in their 50's to 60's and even beyond ,it wouldnt be out of place to see someone of that age in a flat cap,smoking a pipe which IMO made them look dead old. You only have to look at soulies of that age on the scene today and there's a massive difference.The way they  dress the style of clothing and possibly the way they think!  on the scene now the older soulies do not look old even though they are as I am a young 60+    Imo Regards Fred 

Edited June 7, 2018 by Mr Fred

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

4 minutes ago, Mr Fred said:

One thing to bear in mind when referring to old blokes,years ago let's say in their 50's to 60's and even beyond it wouldnt be out of place to see someone of that age in a flat cap,smoking a pipe which IMO made them look dead old. You only have to look at soulies of that age on the scene today and there's a massive difference.The way they  dress the style of clothing and possibly the way they think!  on the scene now the older soulies do not look old even though they are.         Regards Fred 

Fred, loads of 'em in our club do wear flat-caps and dress as Pigeon Fanciers! 

[Mr Fred]

Yes and play Northern soul in the allotment! LOL  All the best Fred. 

[Stubbsy]

On ‎04‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 14:12, chalky said:

Watch this on silence and I wouldn’t have believed they were dancing to Epitome of Sound, the guy in the middle especially.

Don’t get me wrong they got the moves but they aren’t dancing, just doing tricks.  There used to be a time and a place to do the spins and tricks in a record but now it is all the way through and totally out of rhythm to the record in question. 

I know its a dance comp but give me a proper dancer with good footwork who does the tricks and spins in the breaks and appropriate places or preferably just one with classy footwork  

As I said great at the tricks as are a lot but they ain ‘t dancing anymore. 

So right Chalky, couldn't agree more! Some of the acrobatics are totally out of context with the music. That's why I always like watching the best shufflers where it's all about the foot work and usually in time with the music

[Guest Gogs]

6 hours ago, Stubbsy said:

So right Chalky, couldn't agree more! Some of the acrobatics are totally out of context with the music. That's why I always like watching the best shufflers where it's all about the foot work and usually in time with the music

On 29/05/2018 at 00:17, themroc said:

It's just good manners really. I was brought up to believe that "if you've nothing nice to say then don't say anything" Don't say things online that you wouldn't say to people's face, and I should know, I've put my foot in it and sucked so many lemons in the morning. I was outside a famous London venue one night when this sweet girl came out through the door in tears. I asked if she was OK? "I've just been told to leave the dance floor because I wasn't dancing properly" My fuckin days!! She went on to say that she was really loving the music and had never been to a soul night. I was so ashamed. 

I thought that it had been agreed that we shouldn't judge the way people dance. 

[Leicester Boy]

5 minutes ago, gogs said:

I thought that it had been agreed that we shouldn't judge the way people dance. 

Anybody who pays to get in has a right to do his/her thing on the dance floor what next a line of people with numbers on cards to judge them.cant do the acrobatics but good luck to them who can.

[Chalky]

11 minutes ago, gogs said:

I thought that it had been agreed that we shouldn't judge the way people dance. 

since when? I wasn't judging either, if I was someone else would have won 

[Chalky]

1 minute ago, Leicester boy said:

Anybody who pays to get in has a right to do his/her thing on the dance floor what next a line of people with numbers on cards to judge them.cant do the acrobatics but good luck to them who can.

I totally agree they can do what they want on the dance floor, never said otherwise.

[Guest Gogs]

3 minutes ago, chalky said:

I totally agree they can do what they want on the dance floor, never said otherwise.

That's good because i'm one off the worst dancers

[Leicester Boy]

1 minute ago, chalky said:

I totally agree they can do what they want on the dance floor, never said otherwise.

I know you didn't I was just giving my opinion

[Zed1]

3 minutes ago, Leicester boy said:

Anybody who pays to get in has a right to do his/her thing on the dance floor what next a line of people with numbers on cards to judge them.cant do the acrobatics but good luck to them who can.

Don't buy this 'Just do what you wan't' ballocks Sorry. It's Northern Soul so have a bit of respect and at least try and do a Northern Soul Dance like countless thousands of others have done down the years. 

There REALLY is no excuse, even a half pi55ed Giraffe in Diving boots with four left feet could learn a rudimentary 2-Step Novern' dance in ten minutes.  FFS there is enough Youtube vids on the subject to watch.

If I turned up at the next Niter and started Pogoing around gobbing at everyone would that be 'Ok' because Hey!, I've payed my money so I'm 'Doing my own thing'?....... 

 

[Leicester Boy]

Whòoo steady on.my comments were a generalization of course at a n/s do you should be half right I didn't mean you can do the waltz or line dance just people are of varying standards. 

[Robnewbury]

Well I've just received re- read the whole thread which I started and have concluded the Northern soul scene as it now appears is no longer for me ...just a distant memory now..good one though.

[Chalky]

20 minutes ago, ROBNEWBURY said:

Well I've just received re- read the whole thread which I started and have concluded the Northern soul scene as it now appears is no longer for me ...just a distant memory now..good one though.

it is just a parody of what it once was full of people who are only interested in themselves and what they can from it and not what they can give to it

[Guest Shufflin]

1 hour ago, chalky said:

it is just a parody of what it once was full of people who are only interested in themselves and what they can from it and not what they can give to it

what about those who still love it, attend events, buy the records, find happiness in it - bloody hell chalky that was a depressing post

are you talking about soul fans generally or the people running the scene?

[Soulsides]

1 hour ago, chalky said:

it is just a parody of what it once was full of people who are only interested in themselves and what they can from it and not what they can give to it

That's a bit harsh isn't it ?

Maybe you're right as I'm no veteran of the scene by any standards, but anytime I've attended (admittedly sporadic) Northern Soul nights over the years, 99% of the people i've encountered there have been absolutely brilliant company with a wealth of knowledge they are more than happy to share, have been lovely to speak with and are full of genuine appreciation for both the music and the culture and especially the older, more experienced folks.  

I dunno,maybe I need to get out more ..

[Mark S]

2 hours ago, chalky said:

it is just a parody of what it once was full of people who are only interested in themselves and what they can from it and not what they can give to it

Well said you see it all over you tube makes me cringe , the hit the dressing up box ooh look at me brigade ktf koko see you on the comedy carpet car stickers its a way of life  Frank fu$%ing willson bollocks .

That feels better 

[Amsterdam Russ]

I wonder how these “not like the old days” threads are going down on the trad jazz and tea dance forums of today... 

[Professorturnups]

On 04/06/2018 at 22:15, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

OK I've removed a lot of the noise from the thread, a pointless exercise really, as most have already gone through the pain of having read all that!

I'm interested in the idea of it being an alternative scene, I was very interested myself, having lost belief in Punk, I started to twig on that it had become a commercial enterprise 'Punk became a fashion like Hippy used to be, but that ain't got a thing to do with you or me, yes that's right punk is dead it's just another cheap product for the consumer's head!' (CRASS.)...

The allniter scene of the 80s was edgy, dangerous and although I talk a lot about it being 'commercial as soon as someone took your 50 pence' it was an underground scene at that point in time, you'd had the big influx of the mid 70s, most of them had quit and it was left in the hands of the dedicated enthusiast. My mates used to ask about my weekend and I'd say 'Oh had a gig booked' when actually I had the weekend off from the band and had been to a niter, I didn't mention it, and not out of being embarrassed, most of my crowd wouldn't get the idea of going to listen and dance to old soul music, of course if you did the gear side then it was much more than just that, but it was still the beating heart of the scene, the music. I loved it because the women (all older than me) loved me, I loved gear and worked in that business, and I like music that has some emotionally driven lyrical content, drama and theatre... Oh and some great Bass!

Of course there was also the laughs, the car chases, the one-arm bandit lot, oh the women, nearly forgot them! It was ace for me then, now I take my lass for whom it was a youth culture, I enjoy the music immensely but rarely if ever dance now, I just stand outside mostly taking the p**s out of the old geezers and getting chatted up by the older women, just the same as I did when I was 19/20! 

 

Just out of interest which niters did you frequent? 

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

20 minutes ago, professorturnups said:

Just out of interest which niters did you frequent? 

Keele, Blackburn, Rockies (Wheel revivals), Wigan Maxims, Mexboro, Whitchurch civic, Morecambe Carlton,  Wolverhampton Wulfrun, Winsford, every event in the Stoke area throughout eighties. some in North Wales, Colwyn Bay, Shotton.

More on flying visits.

Too young for Wigan Casino, never did Yate, my lass is the knowledge from 75 on, went everywhere, I didn't join until mid 80s. 

[Leicester Boy]

8 hours ago, ROBNEWBURY said:

Well I've just received re- read the whole thread which I started and have concluded the Northern soul scene as it now appears is no longer for me ...just a distant memory now..good one though.

To be fair your conclusion was already in your thread title I doubt whatever you read on here would have changed your mind. Sorry you dont enjoy it anymore myself and many  many more people still do.

[Colnago]

11 hours ago, chalky said:

t is just a parody of what it once was full of people who are only interested in themselves and what they can from it and not what they can give to it

Couldn’t agree more , stopped going to northern nights a few year ago , love the music , but not a fan of the ‘scene’anymore. You don’t need to attend , some of the most knowledgeable guys with tremendous collections I know hardly ever went anywhere, in their younger days,  yes, but for many years,no , and they didn’t acquire their collections while attending events etc , they carried on collecting without being on the scene.  

[Colnago]

9 hours ago, Mark S said:

Well said you see it all over you tube makes me cringe , the hit the dressing up box ooh look at me brigade ktf koko see you on the comedy carpet car stickers its a way of life  Frank fu$%ing willson bollocks .

That feels better 

I can almost feel the release of your angst just reading that

[Leicester Boy]

The saltiness and bitterness by some on here to the present day scene is both sad and frankly wrong. You're like the great footballer of the past who does not play anymore but takes his joy from having a go at present day footballers.you can enjoy what you had at the start of the scene without your constant moaning about the present day scene. Anyway rant over I'm of to find a more positive forum.

[Soulsides]

1 hour ago, Leicester boy said:

The saltiness and bitterness by some on here to the present day scene is both sad and frankly wrong.

It's the same with some of the 'old guard' on the majority of  scenes you'll encounter not just Northern Soul ..a tiny fraction just cant let go and move forward with the times .

The problem is this- certain people are so fanatical about the music they're into that they somehow think it belongs exclusively to them and them only...it's almost as if they recorded the tracks themselves which as a musician I find hilarious personally.

Listen, music isn't ever made by recording artists to be left to sit on a shelf unplayed or stashed away in the hands of greedy record dealers or only owned by some close minded minority ,its made and then released and meant to be all inclusive for anyone who hears and likes it.

When those notes on a record leave those grooves they belong to everyone not just to some exclusive select few in some elite imaginary club which is only ever open in the back of their own minds..

fcuk that type of attitude and ignore it ,its just utter nonsense .

[Guest themroc]

On 02/06/2018 at 20:18, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

Can we just agree that it's The Young, The Good looking and The Tallented we despise? 

[Robnewbury]

For me it wasn't just about the music....There was 'something else' ...something in the air... and it's gone....but perhaps that's the way it always is.

[Colnago]

1 hour ago, Leicester boy said:

The saltiness and bitterness by some on here to the present day scene is both sad and frankly wrong. You're like the great footballer of the past who does not play anymore but takes his joy from having a go at present day footballers.you can enjoy what you had at the start of the scene without your constant moaning about the present day scene. Anyway rant over I'm of to find a more positive forum.

If the above is aimed at me I’m certainly not bitter and salty about it, I just don’t go anymore to northern nights , and at this moment still no desire to . Why is it considered to be bitter and salty ? , I’ve another hobby and going to events hasn’t got the pull that it had on me , however I do go to see live acts and get a buzz out of it , sorry, that’s just me .

[Geeselad]

On ‎04‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 21:28, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

At Wigan in the late 70’s, some of the youngsters looked 14 or 15 such was their desperation to be part of the scene. How many youngsters of this age attend events today and have a view of the current scene?

As I look around at today’s youth, playing on their phones, buds in listening to Ed Sheeran, mimicing the dances on the Fortnight game, perhaps it’s fair to say the Rare Soul scene is safely underground and only likely to appeal to the most ardent of alternative culture seekers?

especially will the boys, I think teenagers a far less mature than they used to be. To The kids I teach the thought of nicking a car or being a bus w****r

all the way up to wigan, robbing a chemist, or basically just leaving mummy's aprons strings, or more likely, fortnight for an more than an hour is an impossible dream. Kids are, in general far more conservative, localised and insular than they've ever been. Standing out, being different going your own way down a cultural route just isn't an option for kids at that age. 15 is the new 9.  

[Peter99]

48 minutes ago, ROBNEWBURY said:

For me it wasn't just about the music....There was 'something else' 

Yah, decent amphetamine!